"They understand, especially those that are close to coming into the major leagues, that in large part this is about them," Fehr said at the Indianapolis Press Club.

"There are lots of players in the major leagues -- the Kirby Pucketts, the Cal Ripkens and Cecil Fielders -- that are never going to do anything as a result of this dispute except lose money," Fehr said. "They're doing it in order to protect opportunities for those that come behind them. My experience tells me most people will understand that."

Fehr, a 1970 graduate of Indiana University, was in Indianapolis between stops on an eight-city tour to brief players. His next stop is today in Phoenix.

"It seems to me that as long as the owners are able to maintain their belief that they are exempt from the antitrust laws, that we will continue to see the kind of labor strife in baseball we've seen over the last 2 1/2 decades," Fehr said. "We have not negotiated an agreement without a strike or a lockout since 1970. It's a pretty sad history when you look at it."

Owners intend to start spring training on February 16 with strikebreakers. USA Today reported yesterday that 39 percent of 125 minor-league free agents it surveyed said they definitely would play or probably would play.

"Every time I see a poll like that, I'm tempted to go back and figure out who did the polling, and when you have a small group like this, how do they figure out who their sample is going to be?" Fehr said. "Do they talk to the club? Do they talk to the agent? Do they put in an 800 number so whoever wants to call can call? There are many thousand minor-league players.

"I think when it gets there, you will see perhaps a vanishingly small number that will go in. Those that do, I think, will tend to be players who have concluded they have no major-league career. That is to say, they can't get there on their own. They may have the opportunity to play in a major-league stadium, but I don't think anybody's going to confuse it with a major-league game."

Meanwhile, the players' union said it would penalize any agent who represents a replacement player.

"What level of penalty is up to the (executive board)," union lawyer Eugene Orza said. "Anything up to decertification is among the penalties at the board's disposal."

Orza said that several agents and players have notified the union that clubs have begun to call players seeking replacements if the union is still on strike when the spring camps open.

Players almost certainly will continue their boycott against signing contracts until a new labor agreement is reached, Orza said.

After meeting with about 50 agents, Orza said there was nearly unanimous support to extend the boycott. No player has agreed to a major-league contract since owners imposed the salary cap December 23.

"I think the owners will find they have bit off more than they can chew," said agent Craig Fenech, who represents Billy Swift and several other top free agents.

On another front, management's lead counsel, Chuck O'Connor, sent a letter to Fehr on Monday saying the clubs will resist any effort to have unsigned players declared free agents. The union notified the clubs last week that unsigned players, of which there are about 835, are entitled to free agency because the clubs illegally changed contract language and working conditions when they implemented the salary cap on December 23.

"The clubs will resist your efforts to coerce them in their lawful execution of their statutory rights," O'Connor wrote in his response.

"The clubs are quite confident that their implementation of revised terms and conditions is entirely lawful. The legal grounds for that implementation, of course, include the union's steadfast refusal to bargain collectively over wages in violation of . . . the National Labor Relations Act."

The Colorado Rockies have established a voicemail hotline for replacement candidates. Colorado has received nearly three dozen inquiries from ex-major leaguers, minor leaguers, college players and softball players.